Saturday, December 31, 2011

I just watched Camille Claudel, the 1988 movie starring Isabelle Adjani in the title role. Besides the sometimes horrendous (read : over-dramatic) soundtrack, I enjoyed the portrayal of the artist. And was touched by Claudel's genius, and her tragic story. The long fought struggle of women artists to exist in their own right, not as merely other (male) artists' muses. And the hardship that comes from not having what most of those men had : support and care in the form of female companionship and inspiration. As a woman you have to be the artist, the muse and the caretaker all at once. And what was her brother Paul thinking? she introduced him to the poetry of Arthur Rimbaud, and all he found to do to repay her was to keep her interned for 30 years - even though the medical personnel recommended she be released. Maybe he felt threatened...we yet have to see the day when most men are not, by strong women. I find her willfulness and dedication so inspiring, and her art beyond moving. I loved when Blot (the gallery owner) says about it : "...puisqu'il m'arrache les entrailles, moi" ('since it tears my heart out'). I guess next time I'm in Paris a trip to the Musée Rodin will be in order - not to see his works (although I will too) but to visit the room dedicated to her.

Friday, December 30, 2011

A nice treat for the end of the year: The Bay Bridged included a song of mine in one of their 2011 in-review mixtape - take a listen! A lot of other Bay Area friends in there, including Dreamdate, Sonny Smith, Papercuts, Vetiver, The Foxtails Brigade, Little Wings...too many to name. How lucky are we here?

Friday, December 23, 2011

Xmas CheeseburgersI was without Christmas spiritso I made three cow dogs,Lola and Blacky and Pinto,cheeseburgers with ground chuck
and French St. André cheese
so that we'd all fell better.
I delivered them to Hard Luck Ranch
and said, "Chew each bite 32 times."
They ignored me and gobbled.
The world that used to nurse us
now keeps shouting inane instructions.
That's why I ran to the woods.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Some of my students were learning Jabberwocky with me this semester, the Donovan version:

...they were having fun with the words, acting them out. I explained to them that since the nonsensical language was invented, you could imagine the Jabberwocky to be anything you wanted it to be, but some of them told me that 'there is a Jabberwocky in the movie'. Since I only knew the 1951 Walt Disney version (I do prefer books before anything else after all), I was a little perplexed. They went on to tell me how it was a sort of dragon, big and scary of course. After a little research I figured that they must have been talking about the Tim Burton film, and so I borrowed it and watched it one night:

And I loved it. I usually don't go for big productions and special effects, but I loved how he used the Jabberwocky poem and made it come to life, while at the same time making the story about a young woman finally taking charge of her own life through the power of her imagination. It was wonderful to see what someone might make a bandersnatch to be, or the jubjub bird and of course the jabberwocky. Yet I was mostly touched by the typical fairytale symbolism of slaying the monster - your inner fears and everything that keeps you from believing in yourself - in order to proceed to the next chapter of your life. And in this case the hero (in the mythical sense, as discussed by Joseph Campbell) is a heroine. "Girl power" as one of my colleagues summarized it when I described it to him.

I ended up showing it to my students on their last class of the semester (after they were done with their holiday show) - reserved a room and arranged to have all three fifth grade classes together for an hour and forty-five minutes. A lot of them hadn't seen it - they were riveted.

***

And here's the Lewis Carroll poem that started it all. For an explanation of the lexicon you might want to consult this wikipedia article.

Jabberwocky

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought--
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! and through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

I'm finally back from Europe and all my travels up and down the West Coast, ready to be back in the hazy fold of San Francisco. It was a memorable summer. I was met with sweet audiences and the nicest people most everywhere...next time I'll just plan the driving a little better! (never play a show after driving 10 hours, one of the golden rules I learned...). This is why we do what we do, as musicians, and so taking my songs to new places and people felt so right and inspiring.

So bring the kids, your sunglasses and come out to welcome me back! It'll be great to see all your friendly faces. The songs might not be all new (although there might be some...) but I think the summer did something to my singing I rather like, so come hear...

Friday, August 5, 2011

The last Paris show was at La Loge, a lovely little theater nestled in the courtyard of old cabinetmakers' worshops, in the 11th arrondissement. You have to ring the bell from the street to get in!

The show was an afternoon marathon of 15 solo artists, put together by Les Boutiques Sonores - part of their summer festival, the Bittersweet Paradise. A lot of talent and friendly people, both on the artists' and organizers' sides...

It was seated affair, the theater is a sweet 50 capacity room, and there were pillows on the floor for the front rows. The ladies on the left are part of a music-loving knitting brigade called Les Pelotes Soniques ('the sonic balls of yarn'). Check out what they're all about on their blog here - they made the stage even cozier. Once again, a very quiet and attentive audience, thank you!

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

As I mentioned before, I visited a great record store in Bordeaux, Total Heaven. The owner took a few copies of The Deer Convention in consignment, so if you live or find yourself in Bordeaux, do go and pay Martial a visit, and ask him for a copy. He'll play you any record you want to hear in his store, and he has a great selection!Total Heaven is at 6 rue de Candale in the very center of town, near rue Sainte Catherine.

If you live elsewhere...well the record is now available through a very cool online vendor called Hands and Arms. It's only 17.50 euros, and that includes shipping for France. Cheaper (and faster!) than ordering through Bandcamp (but do visit Bandcamp if you just want the download). Read about them here (in French). I met the owner at a Boutique Sonores show (more on that later) and was intrigued by his collection - from Gainsbourg to Britpop, with some obscure or otherwise lesser known bands thrown in for good measure. I bought him a sweet little Field Mice reissue...memory lane!

Monday, August 1, 2011

I'm a little late on reporting on the shows and travel...Bordeaux was almost a month ago! - july 8 and 9. The show was a lot of fun, at the St Ex, a bar with a smoky downstairs basement that made me think of Liverpool or St Germain des Prés back in the days...at least what I imagine it might have been. I played with some fun loving lads, Alba Lua, and a sweet lady, also named Hélène (Queen of the Meadow) - it was only her second show!
Sadly I didn't take any photos of the club, or of the cool record store where I played the night before (Total Heaven), but I had one evening on my own when I traipsed the old town and the quays. There's a definite feeling you're in the south, south of the Loire but even further, I could have pretended to be in Spain or some mediterranean city. As recommended by my friend Rita, I had a thé à la menthe on the old square...sweet!

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

...or "The Golden Arrow"- that was the first Paris show (and my first show in France ever!), opening for Vetiver and Marques Toliver. Such a lovely and attentive audience...a lot of people sat on the floor as my set went on, it made me feel like I was in California. Friends were there. And someone (Florian Denis) took some beautiful looking photos, check them out here. Afterwards, Marques Toliver wooed the audience and Vetiver were stellar as always...a great night!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

...with an evening photograph. The same week I went to the bird market, I was staying in the 5th arrondissement, which is a lovely part of Paris with old buildings, parks nearby (the Luxembourg and the Jardin des Plantes), and a lot of history. The apartment was on the sixth floor (with no elevator...) and the view of the rooftops was magical at sundown. One morning I started to write a poem, so here it is.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

I'm still (or again) in Paris- a lot has happened, I played a couple of great shows here and in Bordeaux. For now here are a few photos of the bird market- it's an old institution on the Ile de la Cité (where Notre Dame is). There is a flower market everyday, it's held in beautiful cast iron stalls with glass roofs, and every sunday it's a bird market. I was always fascinated by it as a child (I must have read about it) but had never gone. So I did sunday before last. It was a little disheartening to see all of them birds caged-in (can you imagine if they were all flying around instead?) - but some of them were very pretty...